How Historically Accurate Should Historical Computer Games Be?

 by Jay Pasricha

Battlefield V

As a history student, I will always enjoy any form of media or entertainment which claims to be historically accurate. Couple this with being someone who can often (perhaps too often) be found playing one computer game or another, a historically accurate game is a perfect fit for me. But, as I sat playing Battlefield V on Saturday (a game set in World War II), I began to consider that perhaps at times historical accuracy can get in the way of the enjoyment. In this article, I plan to explore how the different elements of a game can be affected by historical accuracy, and how critical it is for the enjoyment of the game.

As with any form of entertainment, an enjoyable (or at least, existent) plotline is essential for a game set in history. Some games, such as the Assassin’s Creed franchise, focus the entire game around that plotline whilst other games treat it as something to build on and expand around. These are both viable approaches but, when it comes to historical accuracy, there can sometimes be some issues in maintaining it. One key problem is the concept of human agency. As we know, any decision we make in our day to day lives has the ability to affect the events around us. This concept carries over into the gaming world. More recent Assassin’s Creed games such as Origins and Odyssey have heavily focused on ancient Egyptian and Greek history, but they have had to respect the fact that the player doesn’t necessarily want to follow the course of history to the letter. Not only do the developers of these games allow the player to trigger certain historical events when they want to (rather than forcing them upon the player), but the games also allow for a slightly warped plot in order to make the player feel more involved. To give an example, in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey the player assumes the role of a Cephalonian mercenary. The game goes on to suggest that this mercenary also happens to be at the centre of every major event in 431-422 BC, including every major battle in the Peloponnesian Wars and every significant power struggle in Ancient Greece. Obviously, this is inaccurate, but putting the player into these scenarios adds to the experience. In addition to human agency, there is the problem of time constraints. Whilst this may seem like only a minor component, it must be noted that one of the main complaints that many players have about certain games is that they feel too slow or they feel “dragged out”. A perfect example of where time constraints have impacted accuracy is Total War: Medieval II. This is a game in which the player controls a huge amount of troops and fights large scale battles in the 13th century. At the time, these battles could have taken from 4 hours to several days. The game made efforts to ensure that the battles seemed long and drawn out, but didn’t take several days to complete. To summarise, plotlines and plot elements often have to be changed to make a game playable or more enjoyable, however most game developers strive to maintain a certain level of accuracy and realism in their writing.

Seeing as games are primarily designed for the user, the player experience can be seen as the key element in game design. At times, historical accuracies can get in the way of this experience. This means that developers have to make compromises to prevent their games from dying. A great example of this is weaponry. In Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, the player can take on the role of an American soldier during the Vietnam War. We know that the Americans used M16 rifles during this conflict which were notorious for jamming and being unreliable. The Rising Storm franchise is one that has always prided itself on its historical accuracy but the developers were forced to compromise on this one. If the player had to lubricate their gun every 10 minutes then they would begin to complain about tedium. This meant that the game developers had to make the guns “reliable”, thus swaying from their previously steadfast hold on historical accuracy. Another, often ignored, element of the user experience is the “trauma of war”. This was one which came into my mind as I was playing Battlefield V. I began to think about how, whilst I was thoroughly enjoying myself, people really endured these battles during World War II. This got me thinking about how players need to maintain a certain sense of removal from the in-game experience. To achieve this, some developers add blatant inaccuracies to pull the player out of the immersive environment, this could be anything from actions which a normal human would be unable to do or random futuristic elements. Whatever they may be, these historical inaccuracies are developed purposely to prevent the user from being totally sucked into a game. A third element in the user experience is a minor one. This came to mind as I played Total War: Rome. As I marched my Roman Legion across the valleys en route to the battlefield, I remembered a history lesson in which I learnt that a large portion of an army would die on the journey to battle from hunger or disease. Had this element been included in the game, the experience of marching huge swathes of troops across areas of land would have been instantly marred by the knowledge that a large number of them would die before even reaching the battle. This is a prime example of a historical inaccuracy which, yet again, only improves the user experience. In summary, the idea of historically accurate game mechanics can be enjoyable to some but yet again, compromises must be made to maintain a good player experience.

Whilst it may not spring into everyone’s mind instantly, inclusivity is a key element in game design. A game developer is a business, and thus they would be keen to access as many different markets as possible. This means that they would strive to design games that feel inclusive to all, and encourage everyone to play. Key examples of this are Call of Duty: WWII and Battlefield V where the player is allowed to take on the role of a female soldier during World War 2. At the time, there were very few women serving on the front lines and even fewer serving in direct combat. However, this compromise was made to prevent 49.7% of the world’s population feeling alienated. This theme can be seen again in Assassin’s Creed Origins where the developers chose to show both boys and girls in school together in Ancient Egypt. This is a clear inaccuracy but was acknowledged by the developers. Ubisoft Montreal (the developers) stated that “the team felt it was not necessary to prioritise historical sexism over inclusive gameplay”. A game which failed to consider the idea of inclusivity was Kingdom Come: Deliverance. This is a game which caused widespread controversy upon release based on the fact that it did not include a single person of colour. Seeing as the game is set in Medieval Bohemia, this lack of representation is totally historically accurate. However this lack of representation resulted in outrage and many players choosing to boycott the game. This is a key example of when a developer prioritised historical accuracy over its playerbase. Thirdly, historical games must strive to avoid demonisation of any nation or community. This has been perfectly executed in Company of Heroes 2. This game shows a Soviet Army officer becoming disillusioned with the war effort. This game makes efforts to stay away from the “Look how bad the Communists were” narrative and focus on the experience of the individual. Again, we see this in Battlefield V where the player can assume the role of a German Tiger Tank commander who gets abandoned to die by the rest of his army and deserts his post. In fact, this game goes to great effort to keep the word “Nazi” out of it. World War II is presented as a conflict between the Allies and the Axis powers. These are two games which perfectly achieved the concept of avoiding alienation. To summarise, game developers are usually unafraid of sacrificing historical accuracy if it means they can access more markets. Sadly, their key motivation can often be boiled down to simply making money.

Now, I appreciate that that was somewhat long. I had a lot to say. Clearly, historical accuracy in games is important. However, as I have said, compromises must be made to prevent the game from dying. These compromises are essential for the sake of player enjoyment and game success. Primarily, the medium of games is for entertainment. This means that the player must, at times, suspend disbelief. Whilst writing this article, I have reached the conclusion that, rather than historically accuracy, developers should strive for historical authenticity. This means that the games can remain authentic and feel as though they are accurate to the time period in which they are set, but can still be enjoyable for the player.